Is God to Blame? Moving Beyond Pat Answers to the Problem of Suffering [Paperback]

Gregory A. Boyd (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 9, 2003

Is God to blame? This is often the question that comes to mind when we confront real suffering in our own lives or in the lives of those we love. Pastor Gregory A. Boyd helps us deal with this question honestly and biblically, while avoiding glib answers. Writing for ordinary Christians, Boyd wrestles with a variety of answers that have been offered by theologians and pastors in the past. He finds that a fully Christian approach must keep the person and work of Jesus Christ at the very center of what we say about human suffering and God's place in it. Yet this is often just what is missing and what makes so much talk about the subject seem inadequate and at times even misleading. What comes through in Is God to Blame? is a hopeful picture of a sovereign God who is relentlessly opposed to evil, who knows our sufferings and who can be trusted to bring us through them to renewed life.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Beginning with the story of Melanie, overwhelmed by the struggle to accept her baby's death as part of God's perfect plan, Boyd challenges Christians to rethink their assumptions about God and suffering, guided by the principle that "amidst the vast sea of things we cannot know, we can know that God looks like Jesus Christ." Boyd, pastoral theologian and author of Letters from a Skeptic and God at War, has attracted controversy in evangelical circles by questioning traditional doctrines of divine sovereignty-the idea that God is in total control of what happens in the universe, assigning good and bad events to human lives in accordance with a wise, if inscrutable, plan. Boyd argues forcefully that, for Christians, the deepest revelation of God's character has to be the cross of Christ, where God's glory is revealed not as compelling power but as sacrificial love. The book draws on a wide range of biblical material, including the Book of Job, accounts of answered prayer and Jesus' response to human suffering. All of these passages show God contending with a semi-independent creation that often resists the divine will. Thus the mystery of suffering resides not in God's inscrutable will or a possible "dark streak" in God's character, but in the complexity of a universe where freedom and risk are realities that even God must experience. Always compassionate, sometimes cantankerous and capturing biblical concepts with memorable clarity, this challenging book should be a valued resource for pastors, counselors, support groups and individual study.
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Review

"Boyd argues forcefully that, for Christians, the deepest revelation of God's character has to be the cross of Christ, where God's glory is revealed not as compelling power but as sacrificial love. . . . For Boyd, the mystery of suffering resides not in God's inscrutable will or a possible 'dark streak' in God's character, but in the complexity of a universe where freedom and risk are realities that even God must experience. Always compassionate, sometimes cantankerous, and capturing biblical concepts with memorable clarity, this challenging book should be a valued resource for pastors, counselors, support groups, and individual study." (Publishers Weekly (starred review) August 25, 2003 )

"Greg Boyd addresses what may be the single most asked question among skeptics and seekers. Many without Christ are still waiting for us to respond with an intelligent answer. Greg provides an apologetic that actually makes sense about an issue that really matters!" (Erwin Raphael McManus, Lead Pastor, Mosaic, Los Angeles )

"In this new book from the pen of pastor-theologian Greg Boyd, we discover an answer to one of life's most difficult questions: If God is good, why do bad things happen? Boyd advances a radical notion: human history is a battle between God and Satan. We are part of this struggle, and what the future holds is (in part) up to us. Things are not all fixed from eternity. Agree or disagree, Boyd makes Christian faith exciting. I recommend this book to thoughtful Christians everywhere." (Alan G. Padgett, Professor of Systematic Theology, Luther Seminary )

"In this stimulating work, Gregory Boyd shows how an incarnational theology focuses on God's action in Jesus Christ as the source for our knowledge of God. In Jesus we see what God does for us, how God loves us, how God feels for us and how God rescues creatures and creation. This work restores an ancient view of Christianity that emphasizes the freedom we have to enter into a joyous relationship with God--a worldview of hope for all of humanity." (Robert Webber, Myers Professor of Ministry, Northern Seminary, Lombard, Illinois )

Product Details

• Paperback: 211 pages
• Publisher: IVP Books (September 9, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0830823948
• ISBN-13: 978-0830823949
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #348,570 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Gregory A. Boyd is the founder and senior pastor of Woodland Hills Church in St. Paul, Minn., and founder and president of Christus Victor Ministries. He was a professor of theology at Bethel College (St. Paul, Minn.) for sixteen years where he continues to serve as an Adjunct Professor. Greg is a graduate of the University of Minnesota (BA), Yale Divinity School (M.Div), and Princeton Theological Seminary (PhD). Greg is a national and international speaker at churches, colleges, conferences, and retreats, and has appeared on numerous radio and television shows. He has also authored and coauthored eighteen books prior to Present Perfect, including The Myth of a Christian Religion, The Myth of a Christian Nation, The Jesus Legend (with Paul Eddy), Seeing Is Believing, Repenting of Religion, and his international bestseller Letters from a Skeptic.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

65 of 69 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Should we blame God?, November 15, 2003

By 

Jason A. Beyer (Ottawa, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Is God to Blame? Moving Beyond Pat Answers to the Problem of Suffering (Paperback)

A long-standing assumption of most Christian theologians and Christian believers has been that God exercises some form of meticulous control over the physical world; i.e. that everything that happens is part of some kind of divine plan.
Unfortunately, scattered throughout the countryside of Poland are the remains of history's most notorious counterexamples to this view: the Nazi death camps. Richard Rubenstein argued decades ago that if one views God as a 'master controller', one has no choice but to see even the Holocaust as the product of God's will and divine plan. Dostoyesky too, saw this, immortalizing the dilemma believers face in *The Brothers Karamazov*. Dostoyesky's Alyosha Karamazov and Rubenstein both see the same result: if all evil and suffering is part of some divine plan, then there can be no assurance that creation is good or that our ultimate futures are hopeful. 'Good news' indeed!
Attributing the evils and misfortunes of life to God's will has been theologically and pastorally disasterous. Theologically, it slanders God. At the very least, it calls into question whether God is truly good. Sure, some will say that could we only but see the 'big picture', we would see how everything works for the greatest good. (Evil is no longer evil at all, but ultimately good?) But these are empty words--if God includes even the Holocaust in some divine plan, it is no less likely that all the goods we see work for some great evil. Pastorally, this leads to hurtful and sloppy explanations for suffering, and an attitude of victim-blaming. (A prominent German theologian Rubenstein cites draws the conclusion that the Holocaust is a punishment on the Jews.) In light of this, a work like Boyd's that takes both evil and God's commitment to the good of creation seriously is a refreshing change.
Boyd's book (in essence condensed from some of his earlier works)is a popularized introduction to the Open View of God, with a special focus on explaining evil. Boyd uses both methods of Biblical interpretation and philosophical analysis to try to make the case that in creating beings with genuine free will, God has made a commitment to allow us to be self-governing. God takes a significant risk in allowing some measure of control over creation to non-divine agents. Evil, argues Boyd, is not a *part* of God's divine plan, but a *deviation* from it. I must admit that it is startling and rather tragic that the idea that evil is in conflict with God's plans should be a revolutionary, and highly criticized view.
I highly recommend this book, as well as his others. You may not be convinced in the end, but his ideas are a challenge that no serious believer can ignore, and he marshalls an impressive intellect to their defense. At the very least, taking the lessons of this book to heart should lesson our propensity to offer trite and shallow explanations of suffering rather than confronting them.

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A balanced view of Evil, September 19, 2005

By 

Gregory A. Richardson "nicodemusjohn316" (Streator, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Is God to Blame? Moving Beyond Pat Answers to the Problem of Suffering (Paperback)

This is a great book with a balanced view of evil. This book is a shorter version of Satan and the problem of Evil, by the same author. This book presents a theology that explains the problem of evil in a way that the layperson can fully understand how a God of Love can also be a God of Wrath. It presents a realistic theology dealing with Satan and the fallen angels, and mankind's responsibility for evil in this world. This book does all these things while preserving and even expanding God's sovereignty, and demonstrating that men and women have a free will.

35 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Encouraging, thought provoking & worth several reads, November 20, 2003

By 

Robin C. "hildabean2" (Stillwater, MN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Is God to Blame? Moving Beyond Pat Answers to the Problem of Suffering (Paperback)

I go to Greg Boyd's church and have heard 7 years of sermons so I am familiar with Greg's theology. He is thorough, thoughtful and passionate about God-- so whether or not you agree with his theology this book is so full of fascinating information it is worth serious and prayful consideration. I found myself highlighting so much of the book that I knew a second and possibly third read through might be in order.

Like many people, I have struggled greatly with the issue of an all loving, good & perfect God & a world that has incredible evil & suffering. The idea that this all loving God was ultimately responsible for all pain and suffering in the world, supposedly for our own good, was a huge stumbling block in my faith. Greg's views on the problem of evil in the world and God's role in it made sense to me. It was a life changing discovery. Greg's view is controversial. Read the book for yourself and be prepared to have your brain & your faith stretched!

Check out other books by Greg Boyd-- not for the faint of mind: God at War & Satan and the Problem of Evil. Letters from a Skeptic, God of the Possible and others!